Spring device



Jan. 15, 1924.

1,480,694 A. R. ROCHE SPRING DEVICE Filed Sept. 6. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTGHNEYS Jan. 15, 1924.

1,480,694 A. R. ROCHE SPRING DEVICE Filed Sept. l6. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 h Q m l m l Ill O Q i IN1/mmf? Af/P. Roc/Le.

BVM

A TTOHNEYS Patented Jan. is, 1924.

UNITED STATES .ALFRED B. ROCHE, F GABER, WYOMING.

SPRING DEVICE.

Application med September 8, 1922. Serial No. i?.

To all whom t may concern.' l Be it known that I, ALFRED R. ROCHE,

citizen of the United States., and a resident' of Casper, in the State of Wyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Devices, of which the following is a specification.

'lhis invention relates in general to spring devices, and more particularly tc an iinlc provernent in leaf springs especially adapted for use' with automobiles or similar vehicles. The object of the invention is to provide a leaf spring of this character which is so constructed and organized as to he cornpletely housed and protected from the deterioratin action of the weather or of dirt, dust or oter foreign matter and which is at the same time thoroughly lubricatedk in that a film of lubricant is provided and maintained in between the leaves of the spring,

the lubricant bein first supplied to the interstices between t e leaves and such lubricant 'afterwards working out around the spring so as to completely bathe the spring in lubricant whereby the cushioning properties as well as the strength and durability of the spring are 'greatly enhanced. n

Another object is to provide a device of this character having these advantages and at the same time being of simple and dura'ble construction, reliable in operation and easy and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and apply.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain novel features of the construction, combination and arrangement ci parts which will 'be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, refe-rence being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view, showing an embodiment of the lnvention' Figure 2 is a view in transverse ntral section of the embodiment shown in Figure i, parts being shown in elevation for the saire of illustration;

5@ Figure 3 is a view in. transverse section,

on line 3--3 of Figure l;

' Figure e is a view in central longitudinal section, parts being shown in elevation for the sake of illustration; Figure 5 is a view in elevation, 'showing one of the end sections of the jacket or covering;

Figure 6 is a similar view of the central section of the jacket or covering;

Figure 7 is a group view in perspective, showing the spring tensioning device for the end sections; and

Figure 8 is a fragment-ary view in perspective showing' the elbow connection utilized with one form of spring suspension..

Referring to the drawings wherein for the sake of illustration is shown the pre ferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral l0 designates generally the body of an automobile or similar vehicle and the numeral l1 designates the axle thereof. A leaf spring, indicated generally at 12, is supported upon the axle l1 and is connected with the body, as at 13.

The leal spring l2 is made up of a main leaf 14 and a plurality of other leaves 15 organized with each other in the usual inanner. rlhe main leaf 14C is arranged rippen most of the .leaves and terminates at. its end in eyes 16 through which bolts 17 eX- tend, the bolts 'being adapted to cooperate with the frame and with the shackle in the usual manner. The lowerinost leali? l5 rests on a bed platel@ which snrinounts the axle 11 and which is prevented from displacement on the axle by means of lugs 19 seated in notches 20 on the axle. U-shaped clips 2l and nuts 22 coact with the leaf spring and with the axle to secure the leafspring to the axle and to hold the leaves thereof assembled.

rlhe leaves of the spring l2 are formed with centrally located and vertically alined openings which receive a bolt 23, the lower end of which carries a nut 2t received in an opening 25 provided in the plate i9, the nut 2t also engaging the lowermost leaf l5. A.t its upper end tne bolt 93 is provided with a head 26 engaging the .main lent spring and the head 26 eoacts with the nut 2t to hold the loolt in desired relation 'with respect `to the leaf spring. rlhe upper end of the bolt 23 and its head 26 is provided with an axially extending passage 27 into the outer end ot which is threaded a valved nipple 28,v the lower or inner fend; of the passage 27 communicating with a diametri'. cal slot 29 which entends entirely across the holt and Jfor a substantial portion of the length thereof. lhis diamettcal slot 29 titi ltltl 2 ascesa communicates at each side with longitudinally extending grooves or distributing passages 30 formed in the upper itaces ot' the leaves 15, the distributing passages or grooves 30 extending from eachv side ot the central opening of each leaf l5 to a point slightly spaced from the corresponding end of the lea-', as clearly shown in Figure 4.

The construction thus far described provides for the thorough and etiicient lubrication ot the spring for with this construction the coupling of a conventional grease gun may be advantageously associated with the nipple 28 which is of conventional construction and which include laterally extending pins 28a adapted to coact with the bayonet slots of the grease gun coupling. With the grease gun so coupled with the nipple 28, the grease or lubricant may be 5 forced under high pressure through the passage 27 and slot 29 into the distributing grooves or passages 30. rThe lubricant feeds along these passages to the ends thereof and then spreads laterally in both directions from the groove so as to be completely distnibuted over the interstices between the leaves to form a complete film of lubricant between the eugageable faces of the leaves. Moreover the lubricant eventually finds its way out from the sides of the leai'` spring and so completely covers the spring.

ln order to prevent loss of the lubricant and to protect the spring from the action of the Weather and from the bad eiiects of dust, dirt or foreign matter a jacket designated generally at 35 is provided. This jacket is made up in general of a central section, designated at 36, and a pair ot end sections of identical construction and designated at 37. rlfhese sections are all con` structed of fabric treated or woven so as to be impervious to oil and moisture. The fabric is flexible and is adapted to be folded around the spring. The section 35 includes an opening 38 which accommodates the nipple 28 and the meeting ends of this section 36 are united or connected with each other beneath the spring by snap fasteners 39. lihe sections 37 are folded around the spring and the meeting ends ci these sections are united along'the top ogt the spring by snap fasteners 40. is shown in Figure e the inner ends of the sections 37 overlap adjacent portions of the section 36 and theseoverlapping portions ci the sections 37 and. 36 are releasably secured to each other by snap fasteners a2. The sections 36 and 37 are ont such form as to snugly 5t around the spring and completely enclosefit and by uniting the meeting ends of the section 37 along the tcp of the spring the bottom ci the jacket or covering is substantially seamiess and precludes waste or escape of lubricant.

The outer end ct each section 37 has sociated therewith a tensioning device for pulling its section of the jacket toward the end ot the spring and properly maintain the same thereon. These tensioning devices are of identical construction and are provide-d in duplicate, there being one such tensioning device for the outer end of the section 37.

Each tensioning device includes a pair ot eyes secured to the side walls of the section 37y adjacent' the outer end thereof. A. pair of retractile coil springs 46 is provided, one such coil spring being arranged at each side of the jacket and one end of each coil spring being connected with an eye 45. The other ends of the coil springs are connected to the apertured lugs 47 provided on the rings 48 and4 these rings 4 8 are mounted for angular adjustment on the bolts 17. The rings are arranged so as to be clamped in adjusted position when the nuts on the bolts are tightened, and in this manner the tension of the springs 46 may be regulated. At the end of the spring where the spring connection is between the body or frame and the spring, one ring 48 is interposed between the head of the bolt and the adjacent portion of the frame and the other ring is arranged between the nut and the adjacent portion of the trarne, whereas at the other end of the spring, one ring 48 is arranged between the head of the bolt and a shackle link while the other ring 48 is arranged-between the nut and the other shackle link. The bolts 17 are preterably of substantially the same construction as the bolt 22, these bolts i7 having nipples 50 associated therewith and supplying lubricant to the slots 17 of the bolts when the rease gun is connected with the nipple, it eing understood that the slots 17a corresponds to the slot 29 of the bolt 23 and communicates with the nipple 50 in the same manner in which the slot 23 communicates with the nipple 28, and in this manner the spring connection is lubricated.

lt is obvious that these tensioning devices not only hold the jacket in proper position on the spring but also permit of normal ilexion of the spring during the cushioning action thereof without interfering with this action on part of the spring and without allowing the jacket to be injured by virtue of this movement. The jacket 35 or the sections thereof may be readily removed trom the spring to permit of inspection thereof or to provide for access thereto, the springs being readily disengageable from the eyes and the snap fasteners being readily released to permit ci this operation.

lt is to be understood that various forms or nipples corresponding to the nippie 28 in Figure 1i and the nipple 50 in Figure i, may be utilized andv for the sake of illustra tion there is shown in Figure 8 a nipple 60 taking. the form ot an elbowand adapted to be connected up With the bolt corresponding to the bolt 23 inFigure 4, this form of nipple being especially adapted for use With the spring which is inverted in assembly as may be readily seen by comparing Figures 4 and 8.

l claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a leaf spring and a jacket enclosing said leaf spring and comprising a center section and end sections, and flexible and elastic tensioning devices coacting with the outer ends of the end sections of the jacket for holding said end sections in proper position While permitting flexion of said springs.

2. I-'n a device of the character described, a leaf spring having spring connections associated with each end thereof, a jacket enclosing said leaf spring and comprising a center section and end sections and a tensioning device associated with each end section for holding the same in proper position While permitting unrestrained exion of the spring, each of said tensioning devices including a pair of coil springs associated with the outer end of an end section, each of said coil springs being connected at one end to the portion of the outer end of its end section, the opposite end of each coil spring being adjustably connected to the spring connection whereby the tension of'the coil springs may be varied.

3. In a device of the character described, a leaf spring and a jacket enclosing said leaf spring, said jacket being constnucted of fabric and comprising a center section folded around the leaf spring and having its meeting ends overlapping around the bottom of the leaf spring, snap fasteners for releasably securing said overlapping ends together, and and sections folded around the leaf spring and having their meeting ends overlapping along the top of said leaf spring, said end sections also overlapping portions of said center section, snapfasteners for releasably securing the end sections to the center section, and snap fas-- teners for release-bly securing the meeting ends of the end sections together.

4. In a device of the character described', a leaf spring and a jacket enclosing said leaf spring, said jacket being constructed ofl fabric and comprising a center section folded around the leaf spring and having.

its meeting ends overlapping around the bottom of the leaf spring, snap fasteners for.'A

tion while permitting flexion of said spring.

'ALFRED n. noo-nn. 

